Canadian semiconductor firm Alphawave plans $4.5bn London IPO April 22, 2021 Toronto-based Alphawave is planning a London listing after setting a valuation of $4.5bn from cornerstone investors. The company is just four years old and develops technology that pushes data through data centres and phone networks. Alphawave said funds and accounts managed by Blackrock and Janus Henderson have entered agreements to subscribe $510m of offer shares [...]
Extinction Rebellion activists smash windows at HSBC in Canary Wharf April 22, 2021 Extinction Rebellion shattered over a dozen windows at HSBC’s headquarters in Canary Wharf as the group stages a climate change protest against the bank’s investment policies. Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group used hammers to break windows and pasted stickers on walls and windows before sitting down to wait for the police to arrive, according to [...]
Treasury Select Committee chair calls out UK banks for treatment of SMEs during Covid crisis April 20, 2021 Treasury Select Committee chair calls out UK banks for treatment of SME during Covid crisis
Nationwide to lend first-time buyers five times their income on long-term mortgage April 20, 2021 First-time buyers with deposits as low as 10 per cent will be able to borrow five and a half times their income when taking out a longer-term mortgage, the UK’s biggest building society said this morning. Nationwide Building Society said that under its “helping hand” initiative, first-time buyers across the UK will have the option [...]
UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
Amanda Staveley launches appeal over Barclays court defeat April 18, 2021 Financier Amanda Staveley has launched an appeal after losing her lawsuit against Barclays over the behaviour of the bank’s bosses negotiating investment deals. In a high-profile trial Staveley sued the lender over claims it gave her private equity firm PCP Capital Partners less favourable treatment than other parties in the emergency £7.3bn fundraising that saved [...]
Coinbase (est 2012) $87bn market cap is ironically more than Barclays (est 1896) April 15, 2021 It was a seminal day for cryptocurrency yesterday, with Coinbase becoming the largest business of its kind to list on the Nasdaq.
Mass sacking at British Gas as 500 engineers lose job amid contract row April 15, 2021 Nearly 500 British Gas engineers lost their jobs yesterday after refusing to sign new contracts which will reportedly cut their pay by around 15 per cent. British Gas owner Centrica told various media last night that around 2 per cent of its staff had chosen not to sign the new contracts, though it refused to [...]
Travis Perkins sales rise as Wickes demerger nears completion April 15, 2021 Travis Perkins is on track to demerge its Wickes home improvement business by 28 April, the company said on Thursday. The group had put the process on hold at the start of the pandemic last year, but trading in Wickes shares will now commence at the end of the month. Nick Roberts, CEO of Travis [...]
‘Fat finger’ trade briefly bumps £3bn off Barclays’ value April 15, 2021 Barclays’ share price fell 10 per cent yesterday morning after a suspected “fat finger” trade, which temporarily knocked more than £3bn from Barclays value. Barclays’ share price had fallen almost 10 per cent by 8:05am yesterday morning, according to reports – an unusual event, particularly for a big bank. After a five-minute pause in [...]